DENVER, CO. - DECEMBER 19: Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov stretched out before the game Thursday night. The Colorado Avalanche hosted the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL game at the Pepsi Center Thursday night, December 19, 2013. Photo By Karl Gehring/The Denver Post

Adrian, what are you most looking forward to this season and what are your expectations after last years run in the playoffs?

— Jeff, Aurora

My line, that I’ve honed in recent days, is this: I think the Avs will be a good team again. I don’t think they’ll get 112 points again, though, and probably won’t win the division. Last year was a bit of a Cinderella year in many ways.

BUT here’s the thing: I think the Avs might — might — be a team better equipped for the playoffs than last year … IF they get in. I think their added size and experience will be pluses come next spring, and I think the Avs top young forwards are unquestionably some of the very best in the league.

So, while they may not match the overall point total of last year, they might be better equipped to make a longer run this time.

Are the Avs planning to retire Milan Hejduk’s No. 23? And do you think he makes it into the hall of fame?

— Josh, Billings, MT

Not that I have heard for this season anyway. But I think No. 23 will be hung to the rafters, for sure.

Hejduk played for only the Avs in his long career — and he was a great player. I definitely think this will happen, but it might not be until next year. The decision is already made and this might be because, at the time, he still could have signed with another team somewhere this year, and nobody wanted to take a big chance on it.

Hejduk is really retired now, and so I think next year he’ll get his due.

As much as I hate to say it, I think he comes up a bit short on the hall of fame. He needed to get 400 goals probably, maybe another award or two, to make it in. I think he’s going to come up short. But it was still a great career.

By the way: Hejduk will be skating in an Avs sweater this Saturday night in Aspen, in an Avs-Detroit alumni game. So, head on out to see him in uniform one more time.

Who is the dark horse candidate to make the lineup out of camp?

— Devon Kendall, Reno, NV

Right now it looks like it could be a battle between Joey Hishon and Dennis Everberg for a final forward spot, especially with injuries to Bordeleau, McGinn and Mitchell.

Might actually be a couple of open roster spots, so you might throw a name such as Andrew Agozzino in there. He’s looked good in the preseason so far.

Defensively, it seems like a battle between Maxim Noreau, Duncan Siemens and Ryan Wilson for that eighth and final defenseman spot. It will be a good battle between all of the above as the preseason winds down.

Erik Johnson recently did an interview on the Avs website, he said Roy and Tourigny asked him to work on his conditioning because they want him to handle more minutes, so he spent the summer with Andy O’Brien. Given defense is still a weak point, do you see the Avs playing EJ 25-plus minutes a night to get their best guy out there more?

— Evan, Aurora

Andy O’Brien has become the Oz of the NHL, the guy people go to for magical remakes of their bodies. No question, O’Brien has earned this fancy designation because of the work he has done with some of the game’s best players on their conditioning, starting with Sidney Crosby and Matt Duchene and many others.

If Johnson became a client, which I didn’t know, then it can only mean good things for him. I have noticed Johnson has looked quicker this preseason. So the workouts must have worked.

I think EJ can easily be a 25-minutes-plus guy every night for the Avs. He already was in the playoffs.

If Reto Berra continues to struggle with his back-up position this year, do you think Roy will look towards his minor league goalies as a solid back up? Will Pickard be given a chance at the NHL this year? I still believe Brian Elliot should have been looked at again as a solid back-up for Varly after last season.

— Kyle, Littleton

If Berra is a washout — and I think the Avs will give him multiple games still before that is even thought to be a possibility — I think you’ll see them try to get a veteran like Tomas Vokoun or Martin Brodeur.

Problem is, they’d have to eat the rest of Berra’s three-year, $4.2 million contract. They’d have to buy him out, unless they found a buyer in trade. It will be one of the season’s biggest early stories — how Berra plays. If he’s terrible, the Avs may have no choice but to wash their hands of him and chalk it up to “one of those things” as a mistake.

The Avs are very high on the kid Roman Will. It could be Will who fills Berra’s shoes, not a veteran castoff. We’ll see.

Hope you’re enjoying time off from the Avs Adrian, and looking forward to the book. Question is, do you believe the consensus opinion this summer that Colorado was a fluke team given their poor advanced stats, or is it possible their style of play (counterattacking, scoring off the rush) demonstrates a hole in the Corsi model?

— David, Denver

Yeah, a lot of people kind of thought the Avs were a fluke, and, look, there is a case to be made for that. The Avs won 28 one-goal games, most in the league. They pulled a lot of rabbits out of their hats late in games. They were outshot most of the time, but found other ways to win.

So, yeah, the Avs know they need to be better in areas of puck possession and shots on net to satisfy the geeks with their pocket-protector calculators.

But, I mean, all of this is no big secret: the best players control the puck more, and the best players shoot the puck more at the opposition. The fact that there is now a means to record just how much they do it is great and all, but it’s kind of the fancy way of telling people what they already knew before in this game.

Anyway, I’ll have a guest on my podcast, “Hockey Talk” on Friday, Steven Burtch, to discuss more the growing field of analytics in hockey. I promise not to be the dinosaur in the conversation.

What’s the 411 on Zach Redmond? I don’t know a whole lot about the young blueliner other than the fact that he is young and played considerable minutes for the Jets last season. What kind of an impact can I expect from him this season?

— Nahweeld, Denver

Redmond was kind of an odd-man out in the ‘Peg on defense. They had a good group of D-men there, and Redmond was always on the fringe.

With the Avs, I think he has a real good shot of being in the top six. He’s had a good start to camp, and his previous NHL experience gives him a leg up on guys like Siemens and Noreau. The Avs might have gotten a steal in Redmond. Time will tell, but that’s what a couple of scouts told me they think could be the case this year.

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson had butterflies before Sunday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't because of the big-name opponent, but rather his return from a 13-game injury absence and being stoked to rejoin a team in a playoff push and looking for its third postseason appearance in 10 years.